ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: At least 3,000 protesters gathered near the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday amid heavy police presence, after opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to five years in jail.
The protesters intermittently blocked main streets and shouted "Shame!" and "Putin is a thief!"
Navalny was sentenced to five years for theft on Thursday, an unexpectedly tough punishment which supporters said proved President Vladimir Putin was a dictator ruling by repression.
Police plunged into the crowd to pluck out people holding Navalny portraits. A police official said about 50 were detained but that they would be released.
At least 1,000 people protested in St. Petersburg and smaller rallies were held in other cities.
Navalny is an anti-corruption campaigner who led the biggest protests against Putin since he took power in 2000. He is also is the most prominent opposition leader to be prosecuted in Russia since Soviet times.